Elaine Duigenan, London, Great Britain
Nylon - Intimate Archaeology
Intimate: familiar, closely acquainted, private, personal
Archaeology: the study of human history through the analysis of physical remains
In this series Elaine Duigenan (pron. 'Dygnun') seeks to unpick the resonances contained within a familiar object.
The ghostly images of vintage and contemporary nylons have a multitude of referents. They manage to hover between 'intimations of elegance' and downright quirkiness.
The viewer is invited to identify strands which resonate for them.
Ultimately perhaps the dialogue it prompts is to do with perfection and imperfection, residing somewhere between the smoothness and the wrinkles, and in the tension of close-knit and loosening threads...
Elaine Duigenan works with familiar objects; sometimes they have been discarded, other times they are the things which have been kept and valued. She places them in an environment in such a way as to effect a transformation or bestow status. She is fascinated by what she has begun to term ‘intimate archaeology’. This arises out of a passion for both ‘sense of place’ and collecting/unearthing ‘treasure’. We all keep or preserve things as mementoes and Elaine is able to discover symbolism in the most mundane of objects. Her work invariably has an air of mystery and ambiguity which is often heightened when subjects are placed in a particular light or landscape.
“For me, photography has become an ‘act of preservation’ and objects I focus on become the locators or igniters of memory. The traces and remnants we find in any landscape can spark recognition. They can even invoke a presence.”
Since the late 90’s Elaine has been devoted to developing her ideas for the Fine Art market and producing series of Still-Lives and experimental works. She spent a couple of years taking pictures of animal specimens at the Royal College of Surgeons, Hunterian Museum, London. This proved to be the catalyst for much of her subsequent work. She has exhibited alongside Damien Hirst and other BritArtists and her work has featured in numerous magazines and journals.
